Warren Zevon | |
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 Zevon in a press photo, 1978 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as |
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| Born | Warren William Zevon (1947-01-24)January 24, 1947 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | September 7, 2003(2003-09-07) (aged 56) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
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| Years active | 1965–2003 |
| Labels | |
| Website | warrenzevon |
Warren William Zevon (/ˈziːvɒn/; January 24, 1947 – September 7, 2003)[1] was an American rock singer and songwriter. His most famous compositions include "Werewolves of London", "Lawyers, Guns and Money" and "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner". All three songs are featured on his third album,Excitable Boy (1978), the title track of which is also well-known. He also wrote major hits that were recorded by other artists, including "Poor Poor Pitiful Me", "Mohammed's Radio", "Carmelita" and "Hasten Down the Wind". PerThe New York Times, "Mr. Zevon had a pulp-fiction imagination" which yielded "terse, action-packed, gallows-humored tales that could sketch an entire screenplay in four minutes and often had death as a punchline. But there was also vulnerability and longing in Mr. Zevon's ballads, like 'Mutineer,' 'Accidentally Like a Martyr' and 'Hasten Down the Wind'."[2]
Zevon had early music industry successes as a session musician, jingle composer, songwriter, touring musician, musical coordinator and bandleader. However, he struggled to break through with a solo career untilLinda Ronstadt performed his music on her 1976 albumHasten Down the Wind. It launched a cult following that lasted 25 years, with Zevon making occasional returns to album and single charts until his death frommesothelioma in 2003. He briefly found a new audience by teaming up with members ofR.E.M. in theblues rock outfitHindu Love Gods for a 1990 album release, although no tour followed. In 2025, Zevon was inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame in the Musical Influence Award category.[3][4]
Known for his dry wit and acerbic lyrics, he was a frequent guest onLate Night with David Letterman and theLate Show with David Letterman. On Zevon's last appearance, Letterman asked him if he had learned anything about matters of life and death. Zevon said he'd learned "How much you're supposed to enjoy every sandwich."[5]
Zevon was born inChicago, the son of Beverly Cope (nee Simmons) and William Zevon. His father was aJewish immigrant fromUkraine, whose original surname wasZivotofsky.[6] William Zevon worked as a bookie who handled volume bets and dice games for the notoriousLos Angeles mobsterMickey Cohen.[7] He worked for years in the Cohen gang, in which he was known as Stumpy Zevon, and was best man at Cohen's first wedding.[8] Warren's mother was from aLatter-day Saint family and of English descent.[9][10][11] They later moved toFresno, California, and by the age of 13, Zevon was an occasional visitor to the home ofIgor Stravinsky, where he briefly studied modern classical music alongsideRobert Craft. Zevon's parents divorced when he was 16 years old. He soon quit high school and, driving a sports car William won in a card game, moved from Los Angeles toNew York City to become a folk singer.[12][2]
Zevon turned to a musical career early, forming a musical duo with his high school friend Violet Santangelo, called lyme & cybelle (the lack of capitalisation was a deliberate styling move).Bones Howe produced their first single, the minor hit "Follow Me", which was written by Zevon and Santangelo and reached number 65 on theBillboardpop charts in April 1966. A follow-up single, a cover ofBob Dylan's "If You Gotta Go, Go Now" flopped, and Zevon left the duo. A third single without Zevon and another session that included him but was not previously released were included on the 2003 compilationThe First Sessions.
Zevon spent time as a session musician and jingle composer. He wrote several songs for hisWhite Whale labelmatesThe Turtles ("Like the Seasons" and "Outside Chance"), though his participation in their recording—if any—is unknown.[13] Another early Zevon composition, "She Quit Me", was included in the soundtrack for the filmMidnight Cowboy (1969); to suit its place in the film, the song was re-recorded by Leslie Miller as "He Quit Me".
Zevon's debut solo album,Wanted Dead or Alive (1970), was spearheaded by 1960s cult figureKim Fowley but received almost no attention and did not sell well. Though Zevon continued to play occasional live dates as a solo artist, the next several years of his career were dominated by session work with other musicians.
During the early 1970s, Zevon toured regularly withThe Everly Brothers as keyboard player, band leader, and musical coordinator.[12] Later that decade, he toured withDon Everly andPhil Everly separately as they tried to launch solo careers after their breakup. He worked particularly closely with Phil, arranging and playing keyboards on his solo albumsStar Spangled Springer (1973) andMystic Line (1975) and co-writing tracks onPhil's Diner (1974) andMystic Line. Zevon's song "Carmelita" was also recorded by Canadian singerMurray McLauchlan on hisself-titled album of 1972.
These small successes were not particularly rewarding financially, and Zevon's dissatisfaction with his career (and a lack of funds) led him to briefly move toSpain in the summer of 1975. He lived and played in the Dubliner Bar, a small tavern inSitges, nearBarcelona, owned by mercenary David Lindell. Together they composed "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner".
By September 1975 Zevon had returned to Los Angeles, where he roomed withStevie Nicks andLindsey Buckingham ofFleetwood Mac.[14] There he collaborated withJackson Browne, who produced and promoted Zevon's self-titled major-label debut in 1976.[15] Contributors to the album included Nicks, Buckingham,Mick Fleetwood,John McVie, members of theEagles,Carl Wilson,Linda Ronstadt andBonnie Raitt. Ronstadt elected to record many of his songs, including "Hasten Down the Wind", "Carmelita", "Poor Poor Pitiful Me" and "Mohammed's Radio". Zevon's first tour, in 1977, included guest appearances in the middle of Jackson Browne concerts, one of which is documented on a widely circulated bootleg recording of a Dutch radio program under the titleThe Offender Meets the Pretender.
Produced by Browne,Warren Zevon (1976) was his first album to chart in the United States, peaking at No. 189.[15] The first edition of theRolling Stone Record Guide (1979) called it "a masterpiece". The guide's latest edition (2004) calls it Zevon's "most realized work". Representative tracks include the junkie's lament "Carmelita"; the Copland-esque outlaw ballad "Frank and Jesse James"; "The French Inhaler", a scathing look at life and lust in the L.A. music business (which was actually about Marilyn Livingston, his long-time girlfriend and mother of his son, Jordan);[15] and "Desperados Under the Eaves", a chronicle of Zevon's increasing alcoholism.
In 1978, Zevon releasedExcitable Boy (produced by Jackson Browne and guitaristWaddy Wachtel) to critical acclaim and popular success. The title tune is about a juvenile sociopath's murderous prom night and referred to "Little Susie", the heroine of the song "Wake Up Little Susie" made famous by his former employers The Everly Brothers. Other songs, such as "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner" and "Lawyers, Guns and Money", used deadpan humor to wed geopolitical subtexts to hard-boiled narratives. The single "Werewolves of London", featuring McVie, Fleetwood, and Zevon's signature macabre humor, reached No. 21 on the charts.
Dave Marsh called Zevon "one of the toughest rockers ever to come out ofSouthern California".[16]: 427 Rolling Stone record reviews editorPaul Nelson called the album "one of the most significant releases of the 1970s" and placed Zevon alongside Jackson Browne,Neil Young, andBruce Springsteen as the four most important new artists to emerge in the decade. On May 11, 1980, Zevon andWillie Nile appeared on theKing Biscuit Flower Hour.
Zevon followedExcitable Boy withBad Luck Streak in Dancing School (1980). The album was dedicated to Ken Millar, better known under his nom-de-plume as the detective novelistRoss Macdonald, one of Zevon's literary heroes. Millar and Zevon first met in anintervention organized by Nelson, which helped Zevon temporarily curtail his addictions. Featuring a modest hit with the single "A Certain Girl" (Zevon's cover of anR&B record byErnie K-Doe) which reached No. 57 on theBillboard Hot 100 singles chart, the album sold briskly but was uneven, and represented a decline rather than commercial and critical consistency. It contained a collaboration with Springsteen on "Jeannie Needs a Shooter". The ballad "Empty-Handed Heart" (featuring adescant sung byLinda Ronstadt), is about Zevon's divorce from his wife, Crystal, the mother of his daughter Ariel.[6][17] (Zevon was in a long-term relationship with Marilyn "Tule" Livingston, the mother of his son, Jordan, but they never married.) Later in 1980, he released the live albumStand in the Fire, recorded over five nights atThe Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles and dedicated toMartin Scorsese.
Zevon's 1982 releaseThe Envoy returned to the high standard ofExcitable Boy but was not a commercial success.[18] It was an eclectic but characteristic set that included such compositions as "Ain't That Pretty at All", "Charlie's Medicine", and "Jesus Mentioned", the first of Zevon's two musical reactions to the death ofElvis Presley. The album also contains the first of Zevon's writing collaborations with respected writers of fiction: "The Overdraft", co-written withThomas McGuane. The title track was dedicated toPhilip Habib, U.S. special envoy to the Middle East during the early 1980s. Zevon stated that after the song came out, Habib sent him "a very nice letter of appreciation onState Department stationery".[19]
In 1983 Zevon, who was recently divorced, became engaged toPhiladelphia disc jockey Anita Gevinson and moved to the East Coast.[20] AfterThe Envoy was poorly received by critics,Asylum Records ended their business relationship with Zevon, citing poor sales,[21] which Zevon discovered only when he read about it in the "Random Notes" column ofRolling Stone. Following these career setbacks, he relapsed into drug and alcohol abuse. In 1984, he voluntarily checked himself into a rehab clinic in Minnesota. His relationship with Gevinson ended shortly thereafter.[20] Zevon retreated from the music business for several years, except for playing live solo shows; during this time he finally overcame severe alcohol and drug addictions.
Bill Berry,Peter Buck andMike Mills ofR.E.M. were the core of Zevon's next studio band when he re-emerged in 1987 by signing withVirgin Records and recording the albumSentimental Hygiene. The release, hailed as his best sinceExcitable Boy, featured a thicker rock sound and taut, often humorous songs like "Detox Mansion", "Bad Karma" (featuring R.E.M. lead singerMichael Stipe on backup vocals) and "Reconsider Me". Included were contributions from Neil Young,Bob Dylan,Flea,Brian Setzer andGeorge Clinton, as well as Berry, Buck and Mills. Also on hand were Zevon's longtime collaboratorsJorge Calderón andWaddy Wachtel.
On the last day of theSentimental Hygiene sessions,[21] Zevon also participated in an all-night jam session with Berry, Buck, and Mills and backup vocalist Bryan Cook as they worked their way through rock and blues numbers by artists includingBo Diddley,Muddy Waters,Robert Johnson andPrince. Though the sessions were not initially intended for release, they eventually were asHindu Love Gods'sole album. The group had previously released the non-charting single "Gonna Have a Good Time Tonight"/"Narrator" forIRS Records in 1986.
The immediate follow-up toSentimental Hygiene was 1989'sTransverse City, a futuristicconcept album inspired by Zevon's interest in the work ofcyberpunk science fiction authorWilliam Gibson. It featured guests includingLittle Feat drummerRichie Hayward,Jefferson Airplane andHot Tuna bassistJack Casady, noted jazz keyboardistChick Corea and various guitarists, including Wachtel,David Lindley,Jerry Garcia,Jorma Kaukonen,David Gilmour and Neil Young. Key tracks include the title song, "Splendid Isolation", "Run Straight Down" (which had a promotional video that featured Zevon singing in a factory while Gilmour played guitar solos), and "They Moved the Moon" (one of Zevon's eerier ballads).
Transverse City was a commercial disappointment, and Zevon was dropped by Virgin Records soon after the album's release. He almost immediately contracted, however, withIrving Azoff's new labelGiant Records. The first release under Zevon's contract with his new distributor was the albumHindu Love Gods, recorded during theSentimental Hygiene sessions. The album included a cover of Prince's "Raspberry Beret", which became a number 23 Modern Rock hit in the United States.
In 1991, Zevon, once again a solo artist, releasedMr. Bad Example. The album featured the modest pop hit "Searching for a Heart" and the rocker "Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead", later used as the title ofGary Fleder's film of the same name; after some skirmishing over the unauthorized use of Zevon's song title, the Zevon track was licensed to play over the film's end credits. Zevon also sang lead vocals on the song "Casey Jones" from the Grateful Dead tribute albumDeadicated, with regular collaborator David Lindley.
Zevon toured the United States (with theOdds), Europe, Australia, and New Zealand during this period. Owing to his reduced circumstances, his performances were often true solo efforts with minimal accompaniment on piano and guitar;[22][23][24] the live albumLearning to Flinch (1993) documents such a tour. Zevon often played inColorado to allow for an opportunity to visit with his longtime friendHunter S. Thompson.[25]
A lifelong fan ofhardboiled fiction, Zevon was friendly with several well-known writers, who also collaborated on his songwriting during this period, including Thompson,Carl Hiaasen andMitch Albom. Zevon also served as musical coordinator and occasional guitarist for the ad-hoc rock music group theRock Bottom Remainders, a collection of writers performing rock-and-roll standards at book fairs and other events. The group includedStephen King,Dave Barry,Matt Groening andAmy Tan, among other popular writers; it has continued to perform one benefit concert per year since Zevon's death. Zevon played on and wrote liner notes forStranger Than Fiction (1998), a two-CD set attributed to the Wrockers, containing rock covers and originals by many of the Remainders authors plus such notables asNorman Mailer andMaya Angelou.
Zevon oversaw music for the short-lived revival of theNBC seriesRoute 66 (1993), contributing that show's main title theme, "If You Won't Leave Me I'll Find Somebody Who Will". His music was also featured in the fourWilliam ShatnerTekWar movies in 1994. Zevon is listed as "theme music composer" in the opening credits. His song "Real or Not" was used as the show's end credit theme song. The song appeared on Zevon's 2-CD set,I'll Sleep When I'm Dead (An Anthology). In the accompanying booklet, Zevon wrote, "I wrote this song for the William Shatner TV movies based on his novels. Heis Captain Kirk, rest assured. He'd call me at home and demand to hear the song in progress, then he'd say "We need more guitars! More driving guitars!" It was cool. The track reflected my secret fondness for sleazy English techno records."
Occasionally between 1982 and 2001, Zevon filled in forPaul Shaffer as bandleader onLate Night with David Letterman and later theLate Show with David Letterman.
In 1995, Zevon released the self-producedMutineer. The title track was frequently covered by Bob Dylan on his U.S. fall tour in 2002.[26] Zevon's cover of cult artistJudee Sill's "Jesus Was a Crossmaker" predated the wider rediscovery of her work a decade later. The album, however, had the worst sales of Zevon's career, in part because of lack of promotion from his label, Giant.Rhino Records released a Zevon "best-of" compilation in 1996,I'll Sleep When I'm Dead. Zevon also appeared on theLarry Sanders Show onHBO, in 1993, playing himself promotingLearning to Flinch. Zevon also played himself on two episodes ofSuddenly Susan in 1999, along with singer and actorRick Springfield.
After another five-year layoff, Zevon signed with industry veteran Danny Goldberg'sArtemis Records and again rebounded with the mortality-themed 2000 releaseLife'll Kill Ya, containing the hymn-like "Don't Let Us Get Sick" and an austere version ofSteve Winwood's 1980s hit "Back in the High Life Again". With record sales brisk and music critics giving Zevon his best notices sinceExcitable Boy,Life'll Kill Ya is seen as his second comeback. He followed with the albumMy Ride's Here (2002), with its morbid prescience of things to come; the album included "Hit Somebody! (The Hockey Song)" (co-written by Albom and featuring Shaffer, theLate Night band and a spoken vocal from Letterman); and the ballad "Genius", written withPulitzer Prize-winning poetPaul Muldoon.
At about this time, he and the actorBilly Bob Thornton formed a close friendship, catalyzed by their common experiences withobsessive-compulsive disorder and the fact they lived in the same apartment building. Zevon saw Thornton taking his mail in and out of his mailbox, and said: "Oh, so you have that too."[15][6] Zevon appeared with Thornton inDwight Yoakam's movieSouth of Heaven, West of Hell (2000).
In interviews, Zevon described a lifelongphobia of doctors and said he seldom consulted one. He had started working out, and he looked physically fit. Shortly before playing at theEdmonton Folk Music Festival in 2002, he started feeling dizzy and developed a chronic cough. After a period of suffering with pain and shortness of breath, Zevon was encouraged by his dentist to see a physician; he was diagnosed with pleuralmesothelioma, a cancer (usually caused by exposure to asbestos) that affects thepleura, a thin membrane around the lungs and chest lining. Zevon was deeply shaken by the news and began drinking again after 17 years of sobriety.[27]
Although Zevon never revealed where he may have been exposed to asbestos, his son Jordan suggests that it came from Zevon's childhood, playing in the attic of his father's carpet store in Arizona. Refusing treatments he believed might incapacitate him, Zevon instead began recording his final album,The Wind, which includes performances by close friends including Springsteen, Browne, Lindley, Thornton, Yoakam,Timothy B. Schmit,Don Henley,Joe Walsh,Emmylou Harris andTom Petty. At the request ofVH1, documentarian Nick Read was given access to the sessions and made the television filmInside Out: Warren Zevon.[28]
On October 30, 2002, Zevon wasfeatured alone on an episode of theLate Show with David Letterman. The band played "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead" as his introduction. Zevon performed several songs and spoke at length about his illness. He noted, "I might have made a tactical error in not going to a physician for 20 years." It was during this broadcast that, when asked by Letterman if he knew something more about life and death now, he first offered his oft-quoted insight that people need to "enjoy every sandwich."[5] He also thanked Letterman for his years of support, calling him "the best friend my music's ever had". For his final song of the evening, and his final public performance, Zevon performed "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner" at Letterman's request. In the green room after the show, Zevon presented Letterman with the guitar that he always used on the show, with a single request: "Here, I want you to have this, take good care of it."[29]
Zevon died ofmesothelioma on September 7, 2003, aged 56, at his home in Los Angeles.[30][31] His body wascremated, and his ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean near Los Angeles.
Zevon's friendStephen King says: "His albums are dense with stories and brilliant images." King dedicated his novelDoctor Sleep to Zevon.Carl Hiaasen recalls Zevon's friendship withHunter S. Thompson: "Warren was close to Thompson, and their work shared a certain twisted energy. But Warren was very much his own writer, and he was more disciplined than Hunter. Warren was meticulous. Even when he was young and high as a kite, he agonised over his lyrics."Bruce Springsteen says Zevon "would write something that had real meaning, and it was funny, too. I always envied that part of his ability and talent."David Crosby says: "He was and remains one of my favorite songwriters. He saw things with a jaundiced eye that still got the humanity of things."Paul Muldoon collaborated with Zevon on his last album, and paid homage to him with his poem "Sillyhow Stride."[15]
Zevon said that, with his last recordings, he wanted to remind people that "This was a nice deal: life."[2]
A tribute album titledEnjoy Every Sandwich: The Songs of Warren Zevon was released October 19, 2004. Zevon's son,Jordan Zevon, was the executive producer of the album and performed "Studebaker", a previously unfinished composition by his father. A second tribute album,Hurry Home Early: The Songs of Warren Zevon ("hurry home early" is from the song "Boom Boom Mancini", on the albumSentimental Hygiene) was released byWampus Multimedia on July 8, 2005.
On February 14, 2006,VH1 Classic premiered a music video from a new compilation,Reconsider Me: The Love Songs. The video, titled "She's Too Good for Me", aired every hour on the hour throughout the day.
Re-issues of the albumsStand in the Fire andThe Envoy were released on March 27, 2007, by Rhino Records, alongside a re-issue ofExcitable Boy, with the three CDs having four unreleased bonus tracks each. Noteworthy rarities include the outtakes "Word of Mouth" and "The Risk" from theEnvoy sessions and "Frozen Notes (Strings Version)", a melancholy outtake fromExcitable Boy performed on acoustic piano with a string quartet.
Ammal Records was a new label started up as a partnership withNew West Records by Zevon's former boss at Artemis,Danny Goldberg. On May 1, 2007, Ammal releasedPreludes: Rare and Unreleased Recordings, a two-disc anthology of Zevon demos and alternate versions culled from 126 pre-1976 recordings that had been kept in a suitcase. The album contains five previously unreleased songs: "Empty Hearted Town", "Going All the Way", "Steady Rain", "Stop Rainin' Lord", and "The Rosarita Beach Cafe", along with Zevon's original demo of "Studebaker". Selections from an interview of Zevon by theAustin-based radio personality Jody Denberg[32][33] are blended with about 40 minutes of music on the collection's second disc.
The Wind was certifiedgold by theRIAA in December 2003, and Zevon received five posthumousGrammy nominations, including Song of the Year for the ballad "Keep Me in Your Heart".[34]The Wind won two Grammys, with the album itself receiving the award for Best Contemporary Folk Album, while "Disorder in the House", Zevon's duet with Bruce Springsteen, was awarded Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. These posthumous awards were the first Grammys of Zevon's thirty-plus year career.
In 2025, Zevon was inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame in the category of Musical Influence.[35] David Letterman inducted Zevon into the hall during the November 8, 2025 induction ceremony, withThe Killers andWaddy Watchel performing "Lawyers, Guns and Money."[36][37] Killers guitaristDave Keuning performed the song with the guitar Zevon had gifted Letterman before his death.[38]
Zevon was married to Crystal, and their daughter Ariel Zevon was born in 1976.Ariel Zevon is a singer-songwriter and former café owner inVermont.[39] Warren Zevon and Marilyn Livingston Dillow had a son,Jordan Zevon, in 1969. Jordan Zevon is a singer, musician, and songwriter.
He was a friend ofUnited States RepresentativeSteve Cohen, at the time aState Senator; the two attended the2000 Democratic National Convention together.[40]
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead: The Dirty Life and Times of Warren Zevon, a biography by his ex-wife, Crystal Zevon, was published in 2007 byEcco Books.[41][42] The book is largely an oral history that consists of interviews with Zevon's friends, relatives and associates, as well as excerpts from his diaries.
In 2012, George Gruel, a photographer who worked as Zevon's aide-de-camp from 1978 to 1983, published a book of photos of Zevon. EntitledLawyers, Guns & Photos, it was extended and re-released in 2020.[43]
George Plasketes, a professor atAuburn University, wrote a critical study of Zevon's music in 2016,Warren Zevon, Desperado of Los Angeles.[44][45]
Nothing’s Bad Luck: The Lives of Warren Zevon by C. M. Kushins followed in 2019.[46][47][48]
Studio albums
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Data from Wikidata
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